‘My Hollywood’ stars a Filipino nanny
One of the narrators of Mona Simpson’s latest novel My Hollywood is a Filipino nanny named Lola.
I take Williamo to the post office, seal the envelope, and send my money home. Four hundred fifty this week. A ticker tape of dollars runs now all the time in my head. Last year, I totaled more than twenty thousand – in pesos, three times what Bong Bong earns, and he is executive Hallmark. This year it will be more because my weekend job. Besides what I send, I give myself allowance of five dollars for daily spending. Twenty five go to my private savings, so when I return home there will be some they did not know. Also, I need my account here for shoes or treats for Williamo or if one of the babysitters gets married. When you are working seven days, you need some your own money.
Read the excerpt at the author’s website.
Pop culture trivia: Mona Simpson’s earlier novel Anywhere But Here was made into a movie directed by Wayne Wang, starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. Mona’s parents had a child before they married and they gave him up for adoption. The child was Steve Jobs; she thanks him in the acknowledgements. Mona’s ex-husband Richard Appel is a writer and producer for The Simpsons and he named Homer’s mother after Mona.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
March 10th, 2011 at 03:26
very interesting. i didn’t know Steve Jobs was adopted.
here’s a ‘famous’ housekeeper. she’s been featured in her employer’s show several times.
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/mindys_movie_minute/
March 10th, 2011 at 04:06
Mona didn’t work much on the nanny character. There’s just no way a Filipina will christen herself or her daughters Lola. And where did “Williamo” come from? Whilly, maybe. Or Yamyam.